Pavano retires

(SportsNetwork.com) - Carl Pavano announced he is retiring after a 14-year career in Major League Baseball.

Pavano, who last pitched for the Minnesota Twins in 2012, suffered a ruptured spleen along with several complications last winter and missed the entire 2013 season. He had been attempting a comeback for the 2014 campaign.

"Despite my strong desire to compete and hard work in preparing for the upcoming season, I feel that the amount of time lost from my spleen injury, coupled with the recovery from my complications from that injury, preclude me from continuing to compete at my highest level, which is necessary to perform in the major leagues." Pavano said in a statement released by his agent, David Pepe.

Pavano, a 38-year-old right-hander finished his career with a 108-107 record and a 4.39 ERA pitching for the Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians and Twins. He was an All-Star in 2004 with the Marlins.

"I have achieved many things as a major league pitcher of which I am very proud," Pavano said. "However, I feel at this time, I am simply not able to continue to pitch at the major league level and these last three months of rigorous training have failed to produce the results that I was looking for to allow me to continue my major league career."